Chanel Is Betting Its New Artistic Director Can Fill Karl Lagerfeld's Shoes — Not Everyone Is Convinced

• Chanel announced Matthieu Blazy is taking complete arsenic nan house's creator director.
• Blazy, coming from Bottega Veneta, is stepping into a coveted domiciled erstwhile held by Karl Lagerfeld.
• He helped Bottega Veneta defy nan luxury slump, but skeptics mobility if he tin capable Lagerfeld's boots.

After months and months of rumors, Chanel has yet named its caller creator director.

Late Thursday evening, nan century-old French Maison announced that 40-year-old Parisian designer Matthieu Blazy is getting 1 of nan astir coveted roles successful fashion.

Blazy, who spent nan past 3 years steering nan vessel astatine Bottega Veneta, is replacing Virginie Viard, a Chanel stalwart who stunned nan manufacture by stepping down from nan domiciled successful June aft 5 years.

Viard was a longtime collaborator and protégé of Karl Lagerfeld, who became synonymous pinch Chanel aft holding nan title of imaginative head for complete 30 years until his decease successful 2019.

Following Blazy's appointment, Alain Wertheimer, Global Executive Chairman, and Leena Nair, Global CEO of Chanel, released a associated connection calling him "one of nan astir talented designers of his generation."

While they are "confident" he tin "write a caller page" successful Chanel's history, manufacture insiders will withhold judgement until his first postulation debuts successful September 2025.

"He's created a sanction for himself, and it's existent that Bottega has go 1 of nan biggest brands lately, and nan turnaround has been fantastic," Blanca Zugaza Escribano, a manner and luxury advisor astatine Metyis, told Business Insider. "But is he astatine nan level of a Karl Lagerfeld?"

The biggest shoes successful manner to fill

What Blazy does person going successful his favour is that he helped Bottega Veneta, wherever British Louise Trotter will beryllium taking up nan mantle, stay resilient amid an industry-wide slump.

Out of nan apical brands owned by Kering, including Gucci and Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta was nan only 1 to present affirmative net successful its astir caller quarter. Revenue was astatine €397 cardinal ($416 million), up 4% year-on-year.

"My belief is that he will beryllium a committed marque steward who respects nan history and practice of Chanel while innovating for nan future," Milton Pedraza, CEO of nan Luxury Institute, told BI.

Still, Bottega Veneta's caller successes ray compared to nan unchangeable maturation of manner heavyweights for illustration Hermès and Chanel, which, dissimilar galore of their luxury peers, person avoided chopping and changing activity and chasing trends to bolster income and marque growth.

Escribano said that Chanel's strategy is akin to that of Hermès, which Martin Roll, world business strategist and elder advisor astatine consulting elephantine McKinsey, antecedently told BI is simply a marque that has recovered occurrence by playing nan agelong game pinch "stability successful nan ownership" and "leadership stability."

Escribano said it's astonishing Chanel is looking for a caller designer to inject caller power and vision.

"People are not tired aliases saturated of nan classical Chanel," Escribano said. "If something's not broken, why hole it?"

While Blazy will technically beryllium stepping into Viard's shoes, her links to Lagerfeld time off small uncertainty that it's really nan bequest of nan precocious German designer that Chanel's newcomer has to unrecorded up to.

"He's young, and he's modern for a domiciled that's truthful iconic and classic," Escribano said.

One of nan biggest challenges will beryllium whether Blazy tin align himself pinch Chanel's CEO and team, who person been location since Lagerfeld's days.

To travel successful Lagerfeld's footsteps, Pedraza said Blazy will person to beryllium nan benignant of imaginative head who tin "seamlessly optimize, not compromise, nan marque past and coming pinch nan marque future."

"The champion imaginative board tin time off nan marque amended than they recovered it done invention while maintaining nan DNA and personality of nan brand," he said.